No one ever talks about the planning that goes into a trip of a lifetime, like our month-long “Down Under” tour. It can take as long as a year to six months to sort out all the details. As the departure date creeps closer, anxiety can be overwhelming. It is for me.

Elderly parents’ health issues, last minute sprained ankles or a shattered rear car window, all can befall you at the last minute, like it did for me. All those bookings: the five flights, three car rentals, two tours, nine hotels, one helicopter ride, two visas and one gold fossicking permit are all at risk of going up in smoke.

I’m not sure, as I get older, I worry more, or I have more responsibilities to worry about…

Either way, my advice is to plan ahead as best you can and buy trip insurance. I purchased a policy from Seven Corners. Their rates are reasonable, and it’s easy to make a claim, as I unfortunately had to do, my first ever in my life. More on that later…

Since this trip was so involved, I decided to make my itinerary public. You can download the pdf here.